Refrigerator



Dec. 30, 1930. s. s. BATAILLE 1,786,817

REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan; 26, 1927 3.She ets-Sheet 1 f 113 11a" 6 114 117 131 y 1. I g y lvwewttor' aft "y.

Dec. 30, 1930. G. 's. BATAILLE 1,786,817

REFRIGERATOR I Egg? r i i i 4 i i 10 i E i i E L -fi flit/61W? Gerald 15'. Bataille Dec. 30, 1930. G. s. BATAILLE REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 26, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 bwevztai" fierazd (5 0 ,3 QeyW W 9 Patented Dec. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES GERALD S. BA'IAILLE, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS REFRIGERATOR Application'filed January 26, 1927. Serial No. 163,652.

This invention relates to an improved type of refrigerator adapted to use a cooling element of any character, for example, either ice or a cooler of the type used in conjunction form temperature throughout the interior ofv the refrigerator, for this purpose providing for the more rapid and uniform circulation of air within the refrigerator although avoiding artificial draft inducing means. To this end it is proposed to provide stream-lined passages with air deflecting means, including a combined drip receiving and air deflecting factor which is-adapted to guide the circulating air without requiring sharply defined changes of direction in the air flow and without permitting unnecessary intermingling of 'warm or cold air currents or heat conduction between air currents of different temperatures. Further means for attaining these desirable results comprise heat interchanging element which serve to'extend the intensely cold region that is usually confined to the immediate vicinity of the cooler and thereby I permit more rapid cooling of the air currents,

U and the cooling of a larger body of air than otherwise possible.

The arrangement of air passages for these purposes is also used in conjunction with r means for effectively purging the air within the refrigerator; this feature being particu' larly desirable in a refrigerator used for cooling food stuffs. Experiment has shown that many kinds of food stuffs give up gases which may be noxious or poisonous and often tend to give a disagreeable odor to adjoining articles of food as well as to the food compartment itself; furthermore, gases of this character generally appear to have a lower specific heat than air and therefore impede the transmission of heat between materials to be cooled and the cooling element. Pocketed gas. of this character in a refrigerator has been found to result in a local tempera ture which is decidedly hi her than the general temperature of the 00d compartment and which tends seriously to interfere with maintenance of the food compartment at a temperature low enough for proper food preservation. This invention therefore provides means for venting gases of this character into the outer atmosphere and when nec 1 essary foradmitting a slight amount of atmospheric air to replace that which may have been exhausted with these gases.

The above and further advantageous features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the subjoined description and claims in conunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a vertical section through my improved type of refrigerator;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a slightly different type of refrigerator wherein the cooling element is located at one side of the refrigerating casing:

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the bunkerv housing;

Fi 7 is a perspective of the air inlet fun- 0 nel or purging the refrigerator;

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the drip receiving factor with a portion of the outer wall thereof broken away;

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective of one form the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that a refrigerator is provided with an outer casing 1, which has its interior corners rounded and gradually merging into its vertical wall portions, as designated by the numeral 10, in order to preniit the uniform circulation of air substantially without eddying or pocketing. The type of refrigerator shown in Fig. 1 is provided with a bunker housing 11, the lower portion of which is provided with a downwardly and inwardly tapering bottom 12 which has a central opening 13 disposed over a combined drip receiving and air deflecting factor 14. The member 14 is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 8 and may conveniently comprise a member of conical or pyramidal form disposed in the manner illustrated and having its lower portion tapering slightly downward and inward, as designated by numeral 16, F i 8. The periphery of member 14 is proviied with a gutter 17 which is below the extension of its inclined upper surface 19, and a suitable drain 21 receives liquid from the gutter 17. Preferably deflector. 14 is filled with heat non-conducting material 20, Fig. 1, and is so disposed and proportioned in relation to the opening 13 that the downwardly moving cooled air will deposite moisture upon the'surface 19 and willpass by the gutter 17, which will not provide appreciable interference to the air flow due to its reentrant position in relation to the plane of surface 19. The tapered form of this surface tends to deflect the air outwardly toward the sides of the lower portion of the food compartment 18 where it may absorb heat and rise toward the to of the refrigerator.

Wit in the bunker housing 11 may be located a cooler 25 of the type used in conjunction with mechanical systems of refrigeration or the bunker housing may receive a iece of ice 26 (Fig. 5). In either case, the front of the housing may be provided with a suitable door 27 which may also be the door of the refrigerator itself, if desired. Disposed at either side of the cooling element, and if desired at the back and front of the same, are suitable heat interchanging ele ments 29. These heat interchanging elements may be of many designed to afford additional heat absorbing capacity for the cooling element, whether ice or a mechanical cooler, in order to effect more rapid removal of heat from the air circulating within the refrigerator. In the case of a mechanical cooler, the heat interchanging means may be conveniently disposed against or be joined integrally with the cooling element, while in the case of a bunker housing adapted to receive ice, the heat interchanging means may form a lining for the bunker housing in order to contact with-the ice located therein (Fig. 5). One form of heat interchanger is disclosed in Fig. 9 andcomdifferent forms, but are prises a series of small radiator tubes 31 which may preferably be of good heat conducting material, such as copper, and may provide vertically disposed spaces for the passage of descending air currents.

Rounded corners 10 at the upper part of the refrigerator are preferably used 1n conjunction with a curved or arched top 35 therefor, which is adapted to provide a better stream-lined passage for the more uniform and rapid circulation of air and is especially advantageous when used in conjunction with my method of purging the air within the refrigerator. For this purpose I may provide one or more elongate, inclined slots 40 in the top of the refri erator which, as shown in Fig. 11, are pre erably tapered to have the smallest portion at the outside of the refrigerator and may be provided with hinged flaps 41 controlled by exterior handles 58 in order to provide means for adjusting the effective size of the openings (Figs. 10 and 11). These flaps preferably present an acute edge to the air current which sweeps by the same through the restricted passages between the sides of the bunker housing and the top of the refri erator; the flaps therefore serve to skim a t in layer of the li hter gas from the air current and to vent t e same into the outer air. The slots are comparatively small and are adapted to permit the emission of only a small fraction of the circulating vapor or gas. In the case of a refrigerating element and bunker housing, which is disposed in the middle of the refrigerator in order to provide free circulation of air upon both sides thereof, two of these vapor outlet slots are symmetrically disposed at either side of the top 35 of the refrigerator, while, if a bunker housin and cooling element is disposed at one si e of the refrigerator, I prefer to provide asingle outlet slot substantially in the location disclosed in Fig. 3.

In conjunction with the outlet slots 40 I provide suitable means for admitting fresh outer air to the refrigerator. Such means convenientl takes the form of a funnel 50 (Fig. 7 w ich is tapered to provide a restricted opening 51 within the refrigerator, and preferably within the bunker housing below the cooling element so that the comparatively rapidly moving cold air at this point may entrain the fresh outer air.

Fig. 2 discloses a modification of the invention in which the bunker housing 111 is more carefully stream lined and in which a drip receiving factor 114 is located above the opening 113 in the bunker housing, the opening being provided with an upstandin rib or flange 117 in order to catch moisture from the conical drip receivin factor 114. When the dri receiving mem er is thus located above t e opening in the housing, the gutter around the periphery of the same may be omitted The flange 117 is adapted to provide a reentrant trough around the openin 113 to receive the drip and is connected wit a s uitable drain pipe 121.

It is obvious that a refrigerator of the type disclosed and described above is adapted to permit the more uniform'and' rapid circulation of air and to avoid eddy currents or pocketing of the air which interfere with its normal circulation as well as with the more efficient conduction of heat to the coolin element.

&his more efiicient circulation of air is aided by the stream-lined walls of the refrigerator casing and by the shape of the bunker housing, which is adapted to vent air 1n a comparatively rapidly moving stream upon a drip receiving member provided with an inclined surface to deflect the air downwardly and outwardly without necessitating any sharply defined changes in direction in the air current, although at the same time its lower surface is figured to effect the outward movement of heated air without stagnation or pocketing of the same.

It is further evident that the heat exchanger elements 29 provide the cooling element, whether ice or a mechanical cooler, with additional heat receiving surfaces in order more effectively to absorb heat from the air as it circulates by the cooler, thus avoiding the necessity of recirculation of comparatively warm air or of the pocketing of the same near the top of the re rigerator and permitting more rapid movement of the air due to the lower temperature imparted to the same as it passes the cooler.

The disclosed purging means is particularly advantageous in. any refrigerating system in which air is circulated over or about food stuffs. I have found by experiment that food stuffs of practically any type tend to give up gases to varying degrees, depending upon the character of the food in question, that these gases in general appear to have a low specific heat when compared with air and therefore tend to decrease the efliciency of refrigeration. Fur thermore, gases of this character may be poisonous, noxious or have objectionable odors which are imparted to surrounding articles of food as well as to the refrigerator itself. These lighter gases, which would otherwise tend to rise to thetop of the refrigerator and to collect inthe arched portion thereof, are swept by the inner ends of the outlet slots and are adapted to be caught by the rather sharp edges of the of the fla s 41, and thus to be carried out refi'igerator.

Obviously in order to replace the gases and air which are thus exhausted and to maintain the air of the refrigerator in a temperature into the refrigerator tends therefore to aid the efiiciency of refrigeration, on account of the removal of theobjectionable gases which have low heat conductivity, the retention of which will considerabl decrease the efiiciency of heat exchange etween the air or gases within the refrigerator and the cooling element.

I.claim':

1. A refrigerator comprising a casing,

forming a chamber having rounded corners adjacent the top thereof to minimize the formation of eddy'currents in the air circulating therein, refrigerating means in said chamberadjacent said rounded corners, and means arranged to promote uniformvair circulation adjacent said refrigerating means.

2. A refrigerator comprising a casing forming a chamber having arched inner'surfaces to promote smooth flowing, of the air circulating therein, a cooling compartment formed to uniformly discharge air from an opening therein, and an insulated air de-- flector disposed beneath said opening and having plane surfaces each tapering to an apex to provide uniform air distribution from said cooling compartment to all portions ofsaid chamber.-

3. A refrigerator comprising a casing forming a chamber having arched inner surfaces to promote-smooth flowing of the aircirculating therein, a cooling compartment formed to uniformly discharge circulating air from an opening therein, and aninsulated airdeflector disposed beneath said opening and havinga plane surface tapering to an apex to provide uniform distribution of air from said cooling compartment to all portions of said chamber, said (is-- flector eing provided with a peripheral groove arranged between the top and bottom surfaces of said deflector to avoid interference with the uniform deflection of the having a condensation receiving groove formed between the interior and exterior surfaces of the wall of said housingwadjacent said opening to avoid disturbance of the air currents flowing thereover.

5. A refrigerator comprising a casing enclosing a chamber formed by streamline walls to cause the lighter than air gases therein to collect in the strata of the air stream ad acent thereto, said chamber wall having vents to thereto and forthe escape of the lighter gases therefrom, means for promoting uniform distributions and circulation of air in provide for supplying air:

said chamber, and means associated with the walls of said chamber adjacent the exhaust vent for guiding the outer strata of air into the vent. 5 6. A refrigerator comprisin a casing forming a refrigerated cham er having streamline walls to permit smooth circulation of air therein and open to exterior air, means for refrigerating said chamber, and means In projecting into said chamber adjacent its uprmost portion for deflecting and dischargmg the outer strata of air circulating in said chamber.

7. A refrigerator comprising a casing having an inner stream line refrigerated chamber, refrigeratin means in said chamber, said casing having in et and outlet air vents leading to said chamber, and means for skimming therefrom the outer strata of air circulating so in said chamber and guiding it into the outlet vents.

8. A refrigerator comprising a casing forming a chamber having stream line inner surfaces to permit formation of outer strata of lighter than'air gases in the air circulating therein, said chamber having air vents adapted to remove the strata of lighter gases from the circulating air therein, a housing for refrigerating means for said chamber formed so to provide a uniformly smooth flowing discharge of air therefrom, and flaps hinged to said casing to control the volume of air discharged from said vents.

9. Arefrigerator comprising a casing forman ing a chamber having stream line inner surfaces to permit formation of outer strata of lighter'than air gases in the air circulating therein, said chamber having air vents adapted to remove the strata of lighter gases from w the circulating air, refrigerating means for said chamber formed to discharge a univ formly smooth flowing air current therefrom, sharp edged flaps adapted to control the amount of air discharged from said vents,

said flaps being hinged to said casing on the edge of said vents o posite the direction of air flow, and means or admitting air in said chamber.

10. A refrigerator comprising a casing forming a refrigerated chamber having stream line inner surfaces to permit formation of outer strata of lighter than air gases in the air circulating therein, said chamber having an air intake vent and an air vent adapted to remove the strata of lighter gases from the circulating air, refrigerating means in said chamber arranged to discharge a uniformly smooth flowing air current therefrom, means to control the volume of air passing through said vents, said means being adjustable to vary the volume of air discharged through said vent.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 5th day of January, 1927.

" GERALD S. BATAILLE. 

